Portable fire-shield.



PATENTED MAY 2, 1 905.

S. I. HAYNES.

PORTABLE FIRE SHIELD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1904.

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1% [Menu can o 4 atbouu 'PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

I s. I. HAYNES.

PORTABLE FIRE SHIELD. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 1, 1904.

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at town/1 4 No. 789,022. PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

S. I. HAYNES.

PORTABLE PIRE SHIELD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1, 1904.

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showing the parts extended.

Patented May 2, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL I. HAYNES, OF OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

PORTABLE FIRE-SHIE LD- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,022, dated May 2, 1905. Application filed June 1, 1904. Serial No. 210,734.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, SAMUEL I. HAYNES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented new and useful Improvements in Portable Fire-Shields, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in portable fire-shields; and the object is to provide an apparatus of the kind named and for the purpose intended which will be certain in affording the desired protection, efficient in operation, and durable in use, as well as simple in construction.

The invention embodies a truck or conveyance mounted on wheels, pivotally-mounted spires or standards at each end of the truck, a vertically-lifting frame guided in its movements by the spires, flexible fire-shields carried by the frame, winding-shafts to roll the fire-shields up, and a Windlass-shaft to operate the pull-cables.

The invention further consists in the novel construction of parts and their assemblage and aggroupment in novel operative combinations, all as will be hereinafter fully specified and then particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed.

1 have fully and clearly illustrated the improvements in the annexed drawings, to be taken as part of this specification.

Reference being had to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, showing it as'arranged in position to protect a building and the flexible shields as extended. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus, showing it as in collapsed or folded position. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section through the apparatus, showing the elements as in folded condition. Fig. 4: is an end elevation Fig. 5 is a detail elevation, partly in vertical section, taken in reverse to Fig. 4, showing the arrangement of the winding-shafts.

In the drawings the same parts appearing in the different illustrations are designated by likereference notations.

Referring to the drawings, A designates supporting-wheels mounted on suitable axles 1, which'are coupled together by a couplingpole 2 in an operative manner. To the axles are secured arched supports 3, the bridge or cross plates of which are arranged on a horizontal plane, so as to support the truck-body in level position.

B designates the body of the truck made of metal and consisting of stout side plates 4, having front and rear recesses 5 6 to afford room for the wheels to turn under without obstruction and end pieces or plates 7 In the end pieces of the truck-body are formed the bearings wherein the respective shafts are journaled, as will be hereinafter more fully stated. The truck-body is made strong and of such weight as to insure a steady and safe foundation for the several parts or elements mounted thereon and carried thereby.

Adjacent to each end of the side plates of the truck-body are pivotally positioned lifting-frames 8 9, formed or provided with counterbalancing plates or weights 10, extending outward from the pivotal bearings, and from the weight-plates 10 extend oppositely-placed arms or standards 11 of such length as may be required to raise the shield-frames to the desired height. The arms or standards are formed with curved bases, as shown, in orc er that when the frames are swung on their pivotal supports they will be maintained in vertical position by the standards being moved beyond and outside of the pivotal supports and with the weighted portions 10 standing vertically. The'top ends of the standards are united by cross-rails 12, and to the upper ends of the lifting frames or standards are secured staples or rings 13, to which one end of guyropes 14: or cables are attached, the lower portion of which when the lifting frames or standards are hoisted is secured to cleats 15, secured to the sides of the truck-body, substantially as indicated, and thus the lifting-frames are held braced in position against tilting inward while in upright position and acting as guides for the hoisting-frame of the flexible flreshields.

Arranged longitudinal of the body of the truck and journaled in the end pieces of the body is a rotatable shaft 16, having its journals extended beyond the outer faces of the" end pieces, substantially as showmand on the extending ends of the shaft are mounted pinions 17, a crank-arm 18 being secured to each end of the shaft, whereby the shaft may be rotated.

19 20 designate parallel shafts projected through the end pieces ofthe truck-body and having their bearings therein. On the projecting ends of the shafts 19 20 are mounted pinions 21 22, which are in mesh with the pinions 17 and are actuated by it. To the shafts 19 20 are secured the lower ends of material of which the flexible fire-shields are made.

The-upper ends of the fire-shields are secured to the side rails 23 24 of a rectangular frame, the end pieces 25 of which are formed with inwardly-directed flanges 26, which slide against the outer edges of the lifting-standards and guide the frame while being raised. In the cross-pieces of the lifting-standards are secured rings, sheaves, or pulleys 27, in which are arranged lifting cords or cables 28, having one end connected to the side rails 23 24 and their other ends secured to the rotary shaft 16, substantially as shown in the drawings. When the shield-frame is raised, pawls 29, which engage with the pinions 21 22, hold all the shafts against rotation, and thus the shield-frame is held from descending.

The shields or curtains consist of some suit able non-combustible material which will stand the attacks of heat or flame towhich they may be subjected and are of such area as to give the protection required. By providing two shields arranged with a space between them the inner or that next to the danger protects the other, and the space permits a free circulation of air between them to prevent the full force of the heat from reaching the outside or the positionof the persons who may be in the immediate vicinity.

The apparatus is particularly useful wherever it becomes necessary to shield and protect a building from being attacked by a fire raging in the immediate vicinity or useful for the protection of the firemen working to put a fire out. The apparatus may be utilized as a shield in front of furnaces and similar locations to protect the workmen from the direct effects of heat.

Any well-known means or appliances may be connected to the truck to draw it from place to place.

. To put the apparatus in use, it is drawn to the place desired and placed in position, or the preparation for use may be preliminary before it is placed in the protective position. The standards are then turned up into vertical direction and the guy-cables drawn taut and secured to the cleats. The central winding-shaft is then rotated by the cranks, which action, through the cable connections, raises theshield-holding frame and extends the flexible shields, and when the required height is reached the pawls keep the frame from descending. When the purpose has been completed, the pawls prevent the further movement of the mechanism, and the shield-frame is held in elevated position. When the intended purpose has been accomplished, the pawls are disengaged from the pinions, leaving the shield-frame free to descend under the control of the cranks rotating the windingshaft to keep the cables taut and prevent the shield-frame from dropping too fast. At the same time the parallel rollers or shafts roll up the flexible shields until the frame is lodged on the truck. The guy-cables are then released from the cleats, and the tiltable standards are then turned down, and the apparatus is ready for transportation.

The truck and all the operative elements are made of non-combustible material, heavy and strong, and the dimensions of all the parts may be such as to attain stability in position and use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a fire-shield of the character described, a wheeled truck, tiltable standards pivotally mounted at each end of the truck and having cross-pieces at their upper ends, a windingshaft journaled longitudinally through the truck, parallel roller-shafts journaled in the truck, means to rotate the shafts simultaneously, a vertically movable frame formed with guide-flanges to guide the frame on the standards, flexible shields having their lower ends secured to the roller-shafts and their upper ends secured to the side rails of the vertically-movable frame,-and cables connected to the frame and slidably secured to the crosspieces of the standards with their lower ends fastened to the winding-shaft.

2. In a fire-shield of the character described, a wheeled truck, tiltable standards pivotally mounted at each end of the truck and curved outward at their lower portions, a counterbalance at the lower ends of the standards, cross-pieces at the upper ends of the standards,a winding-shaft, journaled longitudinally through the truck, parallel roller-shafts journaled in the truck, means to rotate the shafts simultaneously, a vertically-movable frame formed with guide-flanges to guide the frame on the standards, flexible shields secured to the side rails of the frame and to the rollershafts, and cables connected to the frame and slidably secured to the cross-pieces of the standards with their ends fastened to the winding-shaft.

3. A portable fire shield, comprising a wheeled truck, tiltable standards pivotally mounted at each end of the truck and curved outward at their lower portions, a counterbalance at the lower ends of the standards,

cross-pieces at their upper ends, means to hold on the ends of the shafts, cranks 0n the Winding-shaft, a vertically-movable frame formed with guide-flanges to engage the standards, flexible shields secured to the side rails of the movable frame and to the parallel rollershafts, and cables operatively connected to the frame and to the Winding-shaft.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

SAMUEL I. HAYNES.

Witnesses:

J. I. WATT, P. I. DEVOL. 

